Attention: Please take a moment to consider our terms and conditions before posting.

1 year on: Meire refuses to apologise - with unexpected results

Most people on this board will be familiar with the infamous comment by Katrien Meire: "I don't care about the past history of the club." (Charlton Athletic) - made in an interview with Belgian newspaper L'Echo on the 28th September 2015. This comment was pre-fixed with the words: 'I shouldn't say this but..........

Ever since Meire was subsequently awarded a prestigious award by her former University (KU Leuven) in March of this year a campaign has been waged to get Meire to apologise for this insult to the club and its fans or have the comments (which are professionally and academically unacceptable as well as being irresponsible) brought to the attention of the Leuven University given that those academics who voted for her in the election for the prize award were unaware that they had been made and they may instead have voted for a more worthy candidate had this been the case.

You may well ask why this is important? IMO Meire is using Charlton - with the club's fortunes being secondary to her own ambitions. Remember, whatever happens at Charlton she will probably walk into another job (either within the Duchatelet network or outside of it) claiming that her experience in being CEO and the kudos and awards which come her way as a result were recognition for her keen business sense and aptitude.

The KULeuven VRG Alumni Prize is an annual prize and is a prestigious one awarded by the Belgian University to a former student of the Law Dept who has gone on to achieve high things.
The previous winners include a Belgian Attorney General and an Ambassador. It is clear that Meire 'won' her award on the back of being made the CEO, at a young age, of a business in England (irrespective of the method by which Duchatelet parachuted her in).

Therefore, when Meire, who was contacted direct about this matter, refused to apologise on the club website, the University were notified of the challenge to her award.

Last month, after many torturous e-mails and letters under the banner of CAST the head of the KU Leuven (Professor Rik Torfs) effectively disowned the University from the award decision making process. In a letter, he now claims that the awarding committee for the prize is independent from the University and resides solely with the VRG Alumni 'organisation'. In other words he is distancing the University from the award even though those making it all hold academic posts at the University.

The whole thing therefore still rumbles on with the focus now switched to the committee of the 'independent' VRG-Alumni.
However the hope is that for some in her circle of peers in Belgium at least Meire is not viewed through the same rose-tinted glasses as previously and that ultimately this award will not be one which she can wheel out in future without the whiff of it being tainted because we note that the issues raised have not been erased on Goggle

This of course does nothing to help the plight of Charlton Athletic but why should Meire benefit so undeservedly from her actions at this club when, by her own admission, she shouldn't have said what she did, and now resolutely refuses to apologise for it?



«1

Comments

  • Good work!
  • Is Meire a qualified lawyer ? If so, does she have to complete a mandatory number of hours training/experience every year (which I'm pretty sure applies to solicitors in the UK) ?
  • se9addick said:

    Is Meire a qualified lawyer ? If so, does she have to complete a mandatory number of hours training/experience every year (which I'm pretty sure applies to solicitors in the UK) ?

    No, CPD rules changed so no more 16 hours training a year required.

    Yes, I audit Solicitors for work
  • se9addick said:

    Is Meire a qualified lawyer ? If so, does she have to complete a mandatory number of hours training/experience every year (which I'm pretty sure applies to solicitors in the UK) ?

    She never completed a training contract after leaving university, so it's a push to say she's a qualified lawyer.

    Presumably every practice she worked for realised she was toxic and useless fairly quickly
  • se9addick said:

    Is Meire a qualified lawyer ? If so, does she have to complete a mandatory number of hours training/experience every year (which I'm pretty sure applies to solicitors in the UK) ?

    She does not appear on the roll of solicitors (law society and SRA regulated)

    She is therefore not entitled to practice in this jurisdiction.

    Correct above re no more formal COD requirements for solicitors.
  • se9addick said:

    Is Meire a qualified lawyer ? If so, does she have to complete a mandatory number of hours training/experience every year (which I'm pretty sure applies to solicitors in the UK) ?

    No, CPD rules changed so no more 16 hours training a year required.

    Yes, I audit Solicitors for work
    Cheers
  • se9addick said:

    Is Meire a qualified lawyer ? If so, does she have to complete a mandatory number of hours training/experience every year (which I'm pretty sure applies to solicitors in the UK) ?

    I doubt she has a practising certificate anymore. No need to go through the admin and expense now that she has her exciting new career in football. She said herself that her legal career bored her.
  • She says she trained in law, not that she qualified. A bit like she is doing as a CEO, just training...
  • edited September 2016
    Just to be clear:

    the criteria for receiving the VRG-Alumni award from the Law Dept at KU Leuven have nothing to do with achieving excellence in the field of law (although one recipient in around 2005 did so by becoming Attorney General in Belgium). It's more to do with high achievement in any field but with the background of a law degree.

    Some of the previous winners have done truly remarkable things but the KU seemed to love Meire because she was appointed to a senior position as a woman and at a young age in an area very different to European competition law which she studied quote: She is a living example that you can strike the most diverse ways with a law degree, that can quickly and gender nor age there today to have to stand in the way, even in bastions where it remained until recently very tough hurdles . (Goggle translation) Although we all know that she was appointed by Duchatelet on the basis of a speculative e-mail and that her CEO post is a sinecure whereby she can do and say as she wants without censure - even go on holiday during the season if it suits her.

    You will get the picture that Meire with this award can move in some very elevated circles in Belgium (the Alumni members at this level might be thought of perhaps as academic freemasons although that term probably does them a disservice, however - the award would undoubtably open some doors for her if Duchatelet ever did let her go.

    I think the KU know in their heart of hearts that they got blind-sided on this one (hence the desire of the governor/rector of the Uni to distance it from the decision making process) but to admit a failing in their process now would be too embarrassing one suspects and the assumption is that they will try to ride it out until the next award of 2017 when they can forget about the rick they made with Meire.



  • Sponsored links:


  • So can you find out who is on the awards committee?
  • Pedro45 said:

    So can you find out who is on the awards committee?

    yes, the names I have. Not being a tease but have got to collect my wife from work right now.
    will add the names when I get back.
  • ...and email addresses?
  • Pedro45 said:

    ...and email addresses?

    I love it. You are on a role now. Keep up the good work.
  • se9addick said:

    Is Meire a qualified lawyer ? If so, does she have to complete a mandatory number of hours training/experience every year (which I'm pretty sure applies to solicitors in the UK) ?

    She never completed a training contract after leaving university, so it's a push to say she's a qualified lawyer.

    Presumably every practice she worked for realised she was toxic and useless fairly quickly
    She calls herself a lawyer in Wiki
  • She doesn't come up on a search of the Law Society website, which suggests she isn't a qualified solicitor, certainly not in the UK. (I checked one of my friends details and she appeared straight away.)
    But as far as I can determine, lawyer is one of those terms you can use if you simply work in the law or have a legal background, so it means very little, a bit like the term 'accountant'.

    As ever with this one, it's all superficial.

  • Pedro45 said:

    ...and email addresses?

    Pedro45 said:

    ...and email addresses?

    I love it. You are on a role now. Keep up the good work.

    Pedro45 said:

    ...and email addresses?

    I love it. You are on a role now. Keep up the good work.
    @Pedro45
    yes your campaign against Meire's bid for the EFL post was taken up by others and would have brought her shenannigans (no jokes please) to the attention of the League 1 and 2 clubs which, apart from the fact that she was forced to withdraw, is no bad thing.

    IMO it is important to keep chipping away at Meire's efforts to gain respectability in the football world whenever she raises her head above the parapet because she should not be allowed to inflict her poisonous brand of administration on another football club once she has finished with ours and the more that people find out about her the better.

    With regard to her undeserved VRG-Alumni award and prize (I assume monetary though don't know for sure) the vote was taken in secret by the board of directors of the VRG-Alumni vzw.

    I don't know how many are on the VRG board but the principal names are:

    Chairman: Prof. Dr. Roger Blanpain
    Secretary: Prof. Dr. Robbie Tas
    plus Dr. Dimitri Droshout (Head of Law Dept. at KU who gave the eulogy at the prize giving).

    It was evidently a majority vote so it cannot be automatically assumed that those named above necessarily voted for Meire.

    It was disingenuous for the KU Rector to say that the decision making was nothing to do with KU. Whilst the address of the VRG-Alumni is separate (Tiensestraat 41, box 3438, B-3000, Leuven, Belgium) there is clearly a quid-pro-quo with kudos going to the recipient and the KU getting the credit for its excellence of teaching and rather tellingly don't you think..................

    the e-mail of the VRG-Alumni is vrgalumni@kuleuven.be

  • IdleHans said:

    She doesn't come up on a search of the Law Society website, which suggests she isn't a qualified solicitor, certainly not in the UK. (I checked one of my friends details and she appeared straight away.)
    But as far as I can determine, lawyer is one of those terms you can use if you simply work in the law or have a legal background, so it means very little, a bit like the term 'accountant'.

    As ever with this one, it's all superficial.

    Oi!! :neutral:
  • edited September 2016

    IdleHans said:

    She doesn't come up on a search of the Law Society website, which suggests she isn't a qualified solicitor, certainly not in the UK. (I checked one of my friends details and she appeared straight away.)
    But as far as I can determine, lawyer is one of those terms you can use if you simply work in the law or have a legal background, so it means very little, a bit like the term 'accountant'.

    As ever with this one, it's all superficial.

    Oi!! :neutral: </blockquote

    Oi! Yourself.

    'Accountant' signifies no qualifications, as opposed to chartered or certified accountant, which do. Anyone with a calculator can call themself an accountant. It means nothing.
  • Sponsored links:


  • IdleHans said:

    IdleHans said:

    She doesn't come up on a search of the Law Society website, which suggests she isn't a qualified solicitor, certainly not in the UK. (I checked one of my friends details and she appeared straight away.)
    But as far as I can determine, lawyer is one of those terms you can use if you simply work in the law or have a legal background, so it means very little, a bit like the term 'accountant'.

    As ever with this one, it's all superficial.

    Oi!! :neutral:
    Ah ok. Fair enough. Although being a chartered accountant myself I have to say that I know plenty of unqualified "accountants" who are far more intelligent and articulate than I could ever be. I suppose anyone can learn the theory and pass exams, it's how you deliver that really matters. Unfortunately Meire hasn't delivered as a CEO and I doubt she'd deliver as a lawyer either (even is she is qualified).
  • @Coyotejohn1947
    That's an excellent email you have reproduced above. Well done!

    I do think that, in this case, as we are trying to reverse something that has happened (as opposed to trying to stop something happening, as with the EFL Board vote), we should not overload the VRG-Alumni voting board with emails (most of which will ultimately say the say things about NightMeire). Keep up the pressure, and if there is a suitable time to add to your great work on this matter, then that is the time for fellow CAFC supporters to add weight to your arguments.
  • Pedro45 said:

    @Coyotejohn1947
    That's an excellent email you have reproduced above. Well done!

    I do think that, in this case, as we are trying to reverse something that has happened (as opposed to trying to stop something happening, as with the EFL Board vote), we should not overload the VRG-Alumni voting board with emails (most of which will ultimately say the say things about NightMeire). Keep up the pressure, and if there is a suitable time to add to your great work on this matter, then that is the time for fellow CAFC supporters to add weight to your arguments.

    I agree, I think the chances of the VRG Board going for a fresh vote now are close to zero and there is little to be gained at present from further pushing but the fact that the KU Rector wanted to distance KU from the decision making which led to the award and place responsibility with another 'organisation' is telling.

    The real thing we were looking for in all of this was a public apology from Meire for the things she knew she shouldn't have said and this matter illustrates yet again that she is so full of herself and arrogant that rather than apologise (when the offer was made for her to do so) she chose to let her former Professors and the Rector of the KU spend the time involved re-examining the vote and justifying it (which they patently failed to do).

    Should mention that the more recent e-mails (including extract somewhere above in the thread) were sent to the L'Echo newspaper the original interviewers of Meire in Brussels where she thought she could say what she liked even to the extent of saying things which were for the CEO of a business anywhere in the world were downright irresponsible and juvenile.
    I cannot believe that when this was made known to those who taught her and those that voted for her award that they did not sigh and shake their heads.

    Katrien Meire should not be feted in Belgium for her disastrous handling of the CEO post at Charlton and the things she has said about the club and its fans and we should not lose any opportunity to expose her shortcomings for the sake of this club and any other club in the football family which might have the misfortune to have her coming through the door.
  • edited September 2016
    Keep up the pressure whenever she makes one of her regular self-aggrandising moves. It is apparent that she is far more rattled than she lets on, and given she refuses to engage with anything but hand-picked supporters this kind of indirect pressure is justified.

    Aside from anything else, I genuinely believe it would have been detrimental to Charlton as a club to have her as a representative on the EFL board or any other footballing body. She has shown her lack of credibility as a CEO and she should be trying to mend the mess she has created at the club rather than start telling others how to run theirs.

    The reality is that were she a middle-aged man she never would have got near the CEO job at Charlton, let alone still be there. But she is young, flirtatious, and part of Duchatalet's social experiment to break the mould. Some may say that comment is sexist, but look at her track record. What other explanation can there be?
  • What is telling, is how she doesn't seem to be making any public statements when they were a regular occurance when she started in the role. Whilst is is questionable what the benefits of such a quiet CEO are, in her case we know that when she opens her mouth she generally insults customers and puts her foot in it so it has to be the next best thing to her resigning - we know she wont be sacked as she has made enough errors to be sacked twenty times over and is still in a job. Tuesday's game with Oldham was the biggest inditement of her reign. Those of us who remember the rocking Valley of not so very long ago surely couldn't fail to see the contrast with a sparse apathetic crowd watching the most rubbish football the stadium may have ever witnessed.

    If she had any humility, she may have looked at the sorry sight before her and realised what a destructive force, both she and of course the mad owner have been. It is an inescapable conclusion that she has been a complete failure. The arrogance of these two is unbelievable. Othello said - give me the ocular proof. Her failure is not debatable, it is there for all to see!!!!! Supporters who have loved the club for most of their lives, many decades. Brought up to be Charlton fans by loved ones lost, echoes of Killer Hales and Johnny Summers. They are not going to games anymore. Supporters with Charlton mottos inked on their person, with memorabillia all over their houses, who live, sleep and breath the club are at war with the one they love. The destruction these people have caused is incredible, and they seem oblivious to it.

    Simon Jordan once said his ambition was to buy Charlton, then shut it down. I would say Miere and Duchatelet are doing a far better job than he ever could. At least death by Jordan would have been short rather than torturous. And still they show they have no shame and continue. It isn't about money - they have thrown that away. They have ruined a great institution and deserve no awards just condemnantion.

    Absolutely spot on post Muttley
  • I agree. It's all about her.
  • Somebody needs to tender her resignation at Companies House again.
Sign In or Register to comment.

Roland Out Forever!